8mm Forum: Unaccustomed As We Are

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Posted by Bradford A Moore (Member # 426) on August 22, 2011, 05:01 PM:

Very weird! I just got what I thought was a scored version of Blackhawk's Laurel and Hardy's Unaccustomed As We Are, to replace a scratchy library print I have. It was scored, but only with music. I could see if someone had the shorter subtitled version adding a soundtrack to it, but this is the full 400ft version with no subtitles, and just music. Any thoughts on this?

Posted by Tony Stucchio (Member # 519) on August 24, 2011, 05:21 PM:

I'm confused -- scored usually means with music only. Did you expect dialogue? Blackhawk released the talkie version circa 1979. But I would never consider that "scored". I admit that it is unusual to have a "silent" film without inter-titles, as opposed to sub-titles which appear on the lower portion of the image.

Posted by Bradford A Moore (Member # 426) on August 24, 2011, 06:06 PM:

Tony I should have said sound not scored. I believe what happened, is that someone may have erased some of the track by mistake, and recorded a music track over the original track. It definitely is not the silent print, that had subtitles at the bottom, and someone just added a track to. Sorry if I was confusing.

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on August 24, 2011, 10:52 PM:

Well.....That sucks.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on August 25, 2011, 05:58 AM:

Yikes!

"Unaccustomed" with sound is a very rare animal indeed. I always wanted one and watched E-bay for about a year. I kept running into silent after silent. I asked about it and it seems Blackhawk found the soundtrack for this one very late and didn't make a lot of sound prints.

Finally one showed up on E-bay and I figured I finally had it. Long before it sold for around $250 I let it go.

If the reel you have really is "Unnacustomed as We Are" with the track recorded over It is definitely worth finding somebody with the equipment and knowhow to restore the original track.

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 892) on August 25, 2011, 10:38 AM:

The IMDB page says this was their first talkie! It also shows a photo of a VHS video box.

My recommendation would be to find a copy of that video, or a DVD if possible, and then work out a way to copy the sound back to the film.

Interesting story, Steve!

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on August 25, 2011, 11:19 AM:

Yeah,

It's the great Blackhawk irony that a film most famous for sound is almost exclusively available without it.

Unaccustomed...Silent?!

Last Christmas, Turner Classic Movies had a festival of L&H and I was home enjoying a few days off with my son. We watched a lot of them and I made a point of catching this one. To me it wasn't one of their best, especially where my price of admission was something north of 250 bucks!

Whoever got it was probably very happy: more power to 'em!

Posted by Bradford A Moore (Member # 426) on August 25, 2011, 08:12 PM:

All is not lost. I still have a library copy with a couple of splices, and some scratches. On the whole not bad. I was just hoping for a little better. This will do till then.

Posted by Joe Caruso (Member # 11) on August 26, 2011, 05:50 AM:

I was one of the fortunate who purchased direct at the time, and have a beauty in the green box, Shorty

Posted by Bill Phelps (Member # 1431) on September 09, 2011, 04:44 PM:

Brad...I just received a Super 8 sound copy of 'Unaccustomed As We Are' and it just has a music track on it. The reel is an overflowing 400'. I had not seen it before but knowing it was their first talkie I was expecting the dialog...but it's just as you described.

So...I'm confused. Was this released this way (with music only) or is this another random re-record job by someone?

Bill [Confused]

Posted by Brad Kimball (Member # 5) on September 09, 2011, 08:02 PM:

The print I saw several years ago definitely had dialogue. If the print you have only has music, then, you did get a print with music recorded over the original audio. Especially if there are no sub-titles.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on September 09, 2011, 11:39 PM:

Bill,

Was this the one on E-bay last week?

Posted by Bill Phelps (Member # 1431) on September 10, 2011, 04:01 PM:

Steve...No, I got this from Steve O. at THE REEL IMAGE.

Brad...no sub-titles, just music and some sound effects that don't really match up to what's going on.

Very nice print with no lines or scratches. (or talking!!)

Bill [Smile]

Posted by Bradford A Moore (Member # 426) on September 10, 2011, 05:01 PM:

Bill,

That is the same one. I sent it back to Steve a couple of weeks ago, telling him that it had the incorrect audio. I never heard anything back either. I can't believe after what happened to me with that print, he didn't tell you. Very Strange!

Posted by Bill Phelps (Member # 1431) on September 10, 2011, 05:08 PM:

Well, I didn't order it from him...he just sent it out as a gift with some other films I ordered so he had no reason to tell me about. No biggie...I was just curious about the soundtrack. Doesn't sound like a print that anybody wants so I'll take it.

Bill [Smile]

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